MALE BREAKOUT PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Raphael Girard

After replacing freshman goaltender Steve Michalek late in the year, sophomore Raphael Girard shined in the postseason.

During the first intermission of the Harvard men’s hockey team’s game against Quinnipiac on Feb. 3, Crimson coach Ted Donato ’91 realized he needed to change things up.

Freshman Steve Michalek had surrendered a trio of goals in the opening period to put the Crimson in a 3-1 hole. With a 6-5-8 record at that point, the netminder had enjoyed a solid rookie season, but he wasn’t doing enough to help turn those ties into wins and get his team over the hump.

So Donato replaced Michalek with Raphael Girard, a sophomore who had barely played as a freshman and had struggled in a pair of early-season appearances.

The left-handed goaltender took his place between the pipes as the second period began. By the end of the night, Donato had found his spark, as Girard saved all 26 Bobcat shots fired at him over the final two periods to help Harvard escape the hostile road environment with a 6-3 win.

“I just kept working during practices, even though at some point it was hard to find motivation because Steve was playing so well,” says Girard of his season before replacing Michalek. “It was hard sometimes to find a way to push myself, but I kept on doing that. Maybe that was why I ended up playing against Quinnipiac, because my coach knew I kept working in practice, and that if he put me in there, he had confidence I could make some saves.”

Upon getting his chance, the sophomore did just that, and he continued to make clear over the following month that his hard work had paid off.

Though Donato decided to give Michalek the start in the squad’s next game, the first round of the Beanpot against Boston University, the freshman gave up three quick goals to put Harvard in another early hole. In came Girard, who for the rest of the contest was perfect again—saving all eight shots fired at him by the then-No. 1 team in the country—and Michalek would not get his job back for the rest of the season.

Following that game, Girard sparked the Crimson—which had been picked to finish dead last in the ECAC Preseason Media Poll—to a 3-0-2 record down the stretch, propelling Harvard’s surge up the conference standings.

In two must-win conference home games during the regular season’s final weekend, Girard saved 31 of 32 shots in Harvard’s 4-1 victory over St. Lawrence and 27 of 29 shots in its 3-2 win over Clarkson to help the Crimson earn the No. 3 seed in the ECAC playoffs. With that came a vital first-round playoff bye and home-ice advantage in the quarterfinals.

For his efforts, Girard was named ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Month in February, in which he had registered a 1.75 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage.

“The guys in front of me really helped me perform well,” says Girard, who finished the regular season with a .933 save percentage, tied for fourth-best in the country. “It’s always encouraging to see guys who put the team’s success in front of their individual success. I was pretty pumped up when I saw guys blocking shots and giving all they could.”

Then came the playoffs, when the goaltender was at his absolute best.

The Crimson lost Game 1 of its first-round playoff series against Yale, 2-1 in overtime, despite Girard saving 42 Bulldog shots. But in the subsequent pair of must-win contests, the sophomore willed his team to victory, refusing to let his team’s season end on its home ice.

In Game 2, Girard stopped 48 of 51 Bulldog attempts, making save after save as the game rolled into double overtime. Sixteen of those stops came in the first extra period alone, when any slip-up by the goalie would have ended Harvard’s season. During that stretch, the sophomore shut the Bulldogs down on two power plays, making seven saves in man-down situations to keep the Crimson alive until sophomore Dan Ford was able to score the game-winner in the second OT.

“[Girard] was outstanding,” Donato says. “His performance, especially in game two in overtime, was incredible.”